The Shintaro Higashi Show - Inside Trips | The Shintaro Higashi Show

Episode Date: July 13, 2025

In this episode of The Shintaro Higashi Show, Shintaro and David dive deep into the mechanics of inside trips, particularly focusing on Ouchi Gari. They explore the differences between small and big inside trips, discuss grip fighting, timing, and counters, and share practical advice on setting up and finishing one of judo’s most versatile techniques.00:00 - Introduction & Today’s Topic: Inside Trips01:00 - Ouchi vs. Kouchi: What's the Difference?03:00 - Common Mistakes & Safety Concerns06:00 - Controlling the Counter: Staying in the Fight08:00 - Setting Up the Ouchi in Live Rounds11:00 - Translating Concepts to Jiujitsu & Drilling Methodology13:00 - The Value of Learning Techniques in Pairs15:00 - Shintaro’s Injury Update & Adjusted Game Plan17:00 - Final Thoughts on Ouchi Gari🚨 LIMITED-TIME OFFER: 40% OFF 🚨The All-in-One Instructional Bundle just got even better.Every major instructional. One complete system. Now at our biggest discount yet.Grab yours now at 40% off : https://higashibrand.com/products/all-instructionalsThis won’t last. Build your game today.🔥 Get 20% OFF FUJI Gear! 🔥Looking to level up your judo training with the best gear? FUJI Sports has you covered. Use my exclusive link to grab 20% OFF high-quality gis, belts, bags, and more.👉 https://www.fujisports.com/JUDOSHINTARO 👈No code needed – just click and save!Links:🇯🇵 Kokushi Budo Institute (The Dojo) Class Schedule in New York, NY 🗽: https://www.kokushibudo.com/schedule🇯🇵 Higashi Brand Merch & Instructionals: https://www.higashibrand.com📚 Shintari Higashi x BJJ Fanatics Judo Courses & Instructionals Collection: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/shintaro-higashi/David Kim YT/Instagram:  @midjitsu ​

The Shintaro Higashi Show is sponsored by Higashi Brand. Train hard, live strong, wear Higashi Brand. Judo TV, your premier destination for live and on-demand Judo coverage. Never miss a throw. Hakuin AI. Hakuin AI helps you measure, predict, and solve customer churn. Visit Hakuin AI and start your free churn audit today. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Shintaro Higashi show with David Kim. We're gonna talk about inside trips today. Now there's two different types, little inside trips, big inside trips, ko-chi, o-chi.

I think every grappling art has this. So that's what we're gonna talk about today, David. You like inside trips? I love inside trips, but I rarely get to them because I just feel like the distance between my leg and their leg increases as the round goes on. So I would love to learn how to set people up for these inside trips. Yeah.

So I think a lot of it is like when we watch YouTube, watch these instructionals, like, all right, you put your hands on the grips and then you set it up and make the person step and hook that inside leg. I think it's a little bit misleading because there's a lot more than that. You know, there's a grip fighting game, the hand fighting game, you know, positional advantages, what sort of grips that you may or may not have, what sort of feints that you're sort of feinting first. Wait a minute.

Yeah. Didn't you inside trip me today? I think you did this to me today. Oh, I think I did. Is this why you're bringing it up? You know what? Not even. You know, we're kind of messing around today and on the drive home, I was like, you know

what David would be great at? Inside trips. That's what I was kind of. Well I thank you for that. I appreciate it. I'm definitely going to learn something from you. So anyway, sorry to interrupt you. I did the inside trip and then catch that other far leg or I did a couple of leg pick

stuff with you. I think today Yeah, yeah, yeah, no that that yeah, I definitely remember that but there was definitely one One little little foot sweep there that I remember for sure You have a big impact on me first day back first day back today. I know Yeah, I know I was I was you were moving pretty well. You were moving pretty well for a gimp Yes. Yes. I mean I was protecting it with a knee but you know, felt pretty good out there. Thank you David. Anyway, so you were saying about inside trips, I'm sorry. No, so the inside trips, so there's a whole gripping component closing the distance, whether the person knows it's coming or not, that's sort of like the beginning phases, you know,

outside of the attack itself, right? Right? And then there's the actual attack, whether it's the Kouchi or the Ouchi, there's a timing-based one, you kind of force that Ouchi into that leg, and then now you're balancing on one leg. So now from there, there's a finishing mechanics of it. And I think that's where the thing really differs, right? With Kouchi, you can't really keep that position

for that long, but with Ouchi, you could hook it and shelf it high so now you're in this one-legged position, which is sort of It makes it a little bit more unique right it makes it a little bit sticky and it makes it You know two people are standing on one leg So if you're very very good in that position you could force that position you could almost always come out on top You know what I mean? Right? That's what I like about that Ouchi gari, the inside trip. So you're saying the Ouchi is more sticky than the Kouchi.

Definitely more sticky, yeah, because it's a lot easier to step over a Kouchi than an Ouchi. I mean, obviously it depends on who's doing it. All right. Yeah. Okay. All right. That makes sense. I think one of the reasons- Yep. Go ahead. Go ahead. Sorry. No, you go sense. I think one of the reasons, go ahead, go ahead, sorry. No, you go ahead, you go ahead.

Yeah, so I guess one of the reasons why I asked that question is because when I get coached, right, I feel like the person who's doing, typically they're probably pretty good at it. It might be you. Their foot sticks to my, so if it's right versus right, their right leg is sticking to my right leg. And sometimes maybe they don't get it on that first initial try, but they sort of

stick with it and they go, when I go Ouchi, and I feel like because you're sort of stepping in and, and maybe I'm getting more confused with the like, gaake versus the normal one. I feel like when I'm trying to step in and hook almost with my right leg, it feels like I can lose that. Like it's easier for them to step out, but you're saying it's the opposite.

I know, it's definitely stickier, right? Cause you can shelf the leg and raise it higher. And because of the position of your leg, the o-uchi is a bigger reap because you're using your bigger muscles You could use your glue right use your hamstrings as opposed to coachy when you're bringing the foot across you're using your adductors I can't I can never remember if it's abductors or adductors. I think it's adductors Yeah, so you're using your adductors. It's not such a major movement You can't really apply that much force and then how sticky can you be with that foot alone as opposed like a hooking motion?

Yeah, yeah, you know, I think I'm just worse than everybody who does it to me Yeah, I think that's the question now Is there any knee danger here when you go oochie because sometimes you know people who do that low oochie I always get a little bit of like you but on the other hand, I think, well, I mean, is it, are they really in danger at all? Probably not, but what's your take on that? A little bit, if you're doing a drop ochi where you're dropping to your knee,

then you could tear your MCL pretty good, and it depends if you kind of mess it up, because that, your knee is pointing in and your foot's flaring out, and if the foot gets caught on the mat, you can't rotate that foot towards you, right? Right. So that's a little bit dangerous. Sometimes you hook that inside chip and they're falling backwards, and out and if the foot gets caught on the mat, you can't rotate that foot towards you, right? Right.

So that's a little bit dangerous. Sometimes you hook that inside chip and they're falling backwards and then beginners a lot of the time will try to catch themselves and pulse that leg and then the person sits onto that knee. So that's always a danger. Yeah. So if you're going to throw it, you really got to like... Keep it and pull it back.

Except the fact that you're going down and rotating that leg. And I think in Jiu-Jitsu, a lot of the times, if you're about to go inside trip and they jump guard and pull you forward, and then your foot's planted on the ground and they land on it, especially if they jump at an angle or you twist, now all of a sudden you're looking at all sorts of issues there. But there's a big barrier to entry for the inside trip for the O-Chigari, which is it's very, very easy to counter if you're two beginners, if you don't know what you're doing. Because if you're attacking that inside leg, you're on one leg and you're hooking that

inside leg, anyone who's kind of an athlete can just kind of whip that other person around or kick that leg across or as they're falling try to Turn and pull the person down right rotate right so it's a very intuitive counter Most people are pretty good at doing that intuitive counter. It's kind of like Tanya Toshi is an intuitive thing We just grab the guy and sit down. I try to chip him over that leg Yeah a lot of people won't really go for it because in the beginning there's sort of this learning curve

where every time you try it, you get countered. But if you get good at sticking that position, now all of a sudden, all you gotta do is force it and then most of the time, it's that initial phase where you get countered, right? As you're sticking the leg in and driving forward, they just kind of whip it. So you can sort of weather that storm

and understand how to control that person and not get countered using your hands or your body weight or where your head position is. Now all of a sudden, you're playing a different ball game. And then there's finishing mechanics. There's two or three different ways to finish the Ouchi. You mentioned Uchimata, right? And they kind of go complimentary directions.

So you kind of alternate between them. You enter Ouchi, go Uchimata, enter Ouchi, go Ouchi, enter Ouchi, you finish it to the weak corner, the dominant corner, right, and you 45 it. And then sometimes you go this way and switch. Most good judo athletes are capable of doing that, right? They're very good at fighting the position to enter into that leg position.

And when they get to that leg position, they know how to finish it based on their defense. Right? And this is interesting because actually, now that I'm thinking about it more, they get to that leg position, they know how to finish it based on their defense. Right. This is interesting because actually now that I'm thinking about it more, sometimes I find the setup and the finish and all this stuff for the trips to be a lot more complicated than just sort of doing a half-assed fake for Ouchi and then trying to go into an Uchi Mata, which seems, I mean, for some reason, mentally just seems like a, an easier thing, you know, to me, because there's a lot you got to think about on these trips.

Am I wrong? You're not wrong. Not wrong. Yeah. Creating this two paths, right? And we did some today being in headquarters, right? Heave headquarters. And then he didn't cover it. We didn't do this today in class, but I was thinking like, all right, knee cut high back step knee cup, hip switch, knee cup, hip switch, right? It's like, I might go knee cup, but I go hip switch. It looks like hip switches coming, but then you go knee cut. And it's like the same sort of angle kind of a thing. You enter Ochi. Right. And the entry is fighting for grips, you know, getting rid of the heave-a and then getting to the headquarters which is like attacking that inside leg trip and then whether you go knee cut or hip switch is like oh-chi to the weak side or the strong side, you know? Right. So that's what I was kind of like driving home thinking about this little one-two punch. Yes, yes, yes. And then most people don't try it because of the counter risk because you're on your leg. But once you're comfortable there... Yeah, so now let's say you're,

let's get more specific about the counter because there is that natural counter people are going to try and just turn you around, turn the wheel on you. So, and obviously you're trying to get to a good dominant position with the grips, right? So is it because you have the arm or the sleeve or the elbow and the collar here, right? Are you just stopping them from, like, are you doing that sort of bow position where you're pulling and pushing

as you're setting up this Ouchi to keep them from rotating and countering you? Or how are you specifically? Thinking about that you could pin that elbow down so the elbow doesn't come up But when I'm going in Ochi and cutting back that at 45, especially if they're trying to do that counter I'm gonna try to tuck my elbow underneath and lift that elbow from the bottom So their elbow gets flared high like this and I'm lifting like that, you know So that's a counter to the counter kind of a thing, you know, right? Right, guys, they only have one timing based counter with like the oh, she's coming and they try to rip that leg across.

Yeah. Go right. Yeah. Then you don't even have to worry about that so much. You just fake it and then make it so that they don't see the technique coming. And then you're already in there and now they're falling backwards and they really can't do it anymore because they didn't see it coming. But those guys who are very good from from there they could sort of cast your balance,

back heel it, and then try to step around into the opposite side. There's different counters that are much more advanced, but most people who are doing judo at a beginner and immediate level, they don't have that depth of knowledge in countering the Ochi, right? With that leg position entangled from the inside, standing on their feet and then using their head or driving depth of knowledge and countering the Ochi Right with that leg position entangled from the inside Staying on their feet and then we're using their head or driving the right forward So it's like, you know We're really just trying to get everyone who's listening to kind of enter into this position get countered a few times

Stagger the timing and then stay in this inside leg position And this is what I do with a lot of the guys in the room at my dojo It's like all right stick that leg in force this position. And this is what I do with a lot of the guys in the room at my dojo. It's like, all right, stick that leg in, force this position, we're going to finish, right? But the person who's taking it is going to try to off balance and stuff. And then it's a three person drill where the third person's holding up that uke. So there's no risk of getting taken down. And then that person can help with keeping their balance and then keeping the reaction. So it's like this give and take kind of a thing. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And that's what we're missing in jujitsu, I feel like, because in some ways you don't have as much incentive because let's say you fail, you get countered, and now you're just in side control for three minutes and you're just like, I don't want to do this. Yeah. And you know, usually I would not keep that position as you know, but today because of the risk of my knee, I figured from my past, I was going to keep that past

and just stay kind of smushing. But you're right. You know, most training shouldn't be like that. You know, like I was thinking of a good analogy today. And you ever play like Street Fighter? Of course. Or Marvel versus Capcom, remember that? Yes, I do remember that.

Cyclops versus Blanca kind of deal. Yeah, I remember. You know when you're like playing the computer, but then you have the degree of difficulty lower so you could practice your moves and you're trying to figure out this, right? But if you're just standing there not doing anything Doesn't really work. No, no, it's not

It's like so they'll like like a non-playing character like NPC you heard this before Yes, I have been called an NPC by my children Occasionally when they forget themselves But yeah, you want to have these reactions, right? Sometimes they'll defend, sometimes they'll do one or two off attacks. Yeah. And then the person who's taking the drill should be like an NPC. Yes. Right. So they're not just flopping over like a fish, but they're staying on their feet. The drill is for me. So that's kind of the way I like to look at that.

You know, and drill like this is just extremely helpful This is why I'm so popular Shintaro Among all the people because I'm like that active NPC that guys can roll with You know, I give them good reactions But a little bit slow like if I were in that headquarters position now for Jiu-Jitsu context, right? Like if I was training Jiu-Jitsu, just being in that position from headquarters and then just kind of feeling it out and playing it. If there's a pass, you retain right away, you go back, you know, so you're just kind of feeling that middle ground, you know, you're not actually doing the whole technique from the front to back.

Like put your hand here, go like this. If he goes like this, if you go like that, I go like this, I grab the collar and I pass. You know what I mean? I just want to like explore in that little sliver of time, you know, that moment of like, hey, does he think I'm going to pass or am I not hip switch? Is my going to do this or do that? What are the things that you're trying to do? For instance, like, if I'm trying to push down that delahiel hook with my hand, you're

going to try to grab that sleeve, you know, not anticipating that or like, what are you trying to set up? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah that sleeve, not anticipating that. Or like, what are you trying to set up? You know what I mean? Yeah. And I think Oumji's a good one for that. I think this is something I've thought about a lot too over the years is when people are learning techniques, I almost feel like they should be learned in pairs. You know what I mean?

Because you have that sort of yin and yang, you know? You have the two sides of the coin, right? And so you can play between one and the other. So any technique you learn, you should be learning really two that are going to play off each other. And if you're really good, you probably have a third one, right? And if you can make them all be complimentary and work off of each other, then you're going to have a lot of success, I feel like. And it's not really that many,

but a lot of times we get the blinders on. For instance, like I remember I was rolling with somebody and, you know, like almost sweeping many times, but it's like a one and done. It's like a one-off. Like I tried to sweep them, Didn't quite make it. Try to sweep them. Didn't quite make it. But there was no, there was no complimentary technique like off the failed sweep. You know what I mean? And so if I had had that right hand to compliment the jab, you would have a lot more success, but I was just doing one-off, one-off, one-off.

So I feel like this Ouchi is very much like that, kind of like that jab, right? Because you can use it to set up a lot of stuff or you can just use it on its own, but the other guy is a little off balance because he's not really sure what you're going to do with it. Yeah. So I really liked that Ouchi, you know, so slip that leg in there, timing wise, fighting for position, different finishing mechanics, fake that Ouchi, go Uchi Mata. Ouchi, you kick that leg open and you go outside trips. So there's a lot, it's like the one of the most, like so many varieties. It's so versatile. So I kind of wanted to like use this podcast today to kind of like challenge everyone to kind of explore that position.

Maybe we'll make it like an Ouchi Gari week for everybody across the nation. Who knows? So do you actually prefer it? Do you actually prefer it to Koichi? You prefer Ochi to Koichi? They work together so good. So it's like, I like the timing-based Koichi. I love the beauty of clipping it

and catching that hill. So difficult to get. Even like me who've been doing judo forever, it's so hard to time this stuff because people step in sort of a different sync sometimes and you get like a high level guy doesn't react, like a low level guy and then a mid level guy and mostly like intermediate guys you could just kind of blast one good thing and you know force steamrolling with it so it's like why try to set up all these complicated things sometimes like a knee tap

maybe like a knee tap right? That was a good one right? Yeah that was really good. I was like ah fuck. I'm gonna try to stick to that knee tap takedowns for a little bit while my knee kind of heals. I don't want to get into uh I told you I'm going with Eddie and then he kicked me in the knee with a society. Yeah that's so that's so yeah. He didn't kick me but you know it just like rode up a little bit high and you know,

come back from a few things. Yeah, a little sensitive. Yeah, it's a little sensitive and it did hurt a little bit. So, you know, I'm gonna try to be more mindful of that and do a little bit more gripping and knee tap stuff. But Ouchi kinda, yeah, go ahead. Have you been actually doing much standup? That was the most standup I've done this whole time.

Right, okay. You know, almost two and a half months now. Yeah. So what is that like 10 weeks it's been? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I have not been doing any stand up yet, but I've been doing, I started ground today. I mean, I, you know, rolling light the last two weeks, but like, not like today. Today, you know, I went the whole six rolls and stayed. Yeah. I did like seven not like today. Today, you know, I went the whole six rolls and stayed in the two afters. I did like seven or eight. Yeah. But you know, I was lazy and putting a lot of pressure

and when I get a position, I'm securing it and holding it. Not like my usual scrambling movement that got in work. You know, it was more so for me to just kind of self-preservation. I noticed. I noticed. You felt it? Yes, I felt, I felt the- Was I heavy?

Yes, I was like, have you been back on the ice cream or like what's going on? This pressure is not what I'm used to. Usually you're much more scrambly, much more in and out, much more hopping around and stuff. But today you were just like. Yeah, my agility is kind of gone. You know, the lateral movement, it doesn't feel so stable.

I don't want to put my knee on the floor yet, because it hurts to put my knee down still. Oh, OK. And I don't know if full flexion. Yeah, you didn't have that kind of like, edge of the distance passing that you're so good at. So for the people who may not have rolled with Shintaro, he likes to stay at the edge.

So you're just trying to get a hold of something. You're trying to engage, engage, engage. And he just sort of teases you at the edge of your range until he gets what he wants. And then he just passes the guard and it's very irritating. I do like outside passing. Yeah. Well, you've got the good movement.

Oh, thank you. Not right now, but it's fair when you go with lighter guys also. Yeah, yeah. Well you've got the good movement. Oh thank you. Not right now, but you know it's fair for when you go with lighter guys also. Yeah, yeah. Because if you're going with a guy that's 140 pounds and you put tons of weight and pressure and then you know it's really not fair you know. Yeah, yeah it's not fair Shintaro. It's not fair. We're the same weight. Me and you. Unfortunately this is yes this is true. I'm a fatty. But inside trip, it's really a great thing. I think you should explore it. I think cross body Ochi with you put the hand on the chin,

strong frame on the face and then driving that inside leg and lifting and all that stuff. I think that's a huge one. You know what I mean? So to my, so if you are a righty, you've got the collar and you're going toward your left. Yes. Yes. Yes Yes, just okay body at a 45. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah

You're kind of forcing that leg to be light and then you're elevating it and clipping it and then just keeping that position for as long as possible So it is almost like it's sort of like a forward Uchi Mata Kind of not really Like it in the side. Yeah. So yeah, and Uchimata share that inside leg position. Yeah, yeah. I don't do anything with my right leg, man. Like front, like face to face. It's all just fake. It's all smoke and mirrors. Yeah, I tried. I tried it on you. Uchi and Tonage works too.

Together, you know, you go back and then you go forward and it's a complimentary thing. It's a great technique to learn to set up your other ones. So if you have a good Ochi, sets up everything else, I highly recommend everyone try it. I do have a bunch of videos on it on YouTube. We'll make sure to put them on the products. They're all out there, so please check them out. What's on the agenda for Wednesday, by the way? Glick just kind of teaches whatever he wants.

And then we do 30 minutes and then we just roll for 45 minutes. I'm sure you could get Glick to do a roll with you. Oh man, that would be nice. He's unbelievable on the ground. He's unbelievable. Yeah, no, yeah. I mean, yes. All those guys, all those old school Hanzo Gracie guys.

Yeah. They're all good, man. They're all good. He's exceptional. I really believe that. Oh, yeah, I believe it too. All right, thank you everybody. There's a quick one,

but hopefully it'll help your game. Yep, thank you so much. Thanks guys.